$58 million border fence draws criticism

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Critics say a $58 million fence on the U.S.-Mexico border meant to stop illegal immigration is too costly, is ineffective and damaging to the environment.

The 3.6-mile steel wall at the southern end of California's San Diego County was intended to block the flow of those trying to enter the United States illegally by hiking over an area containing a 3,500-foot scrub- and tarantula-covered mountain peak called Otay Mountain, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Critics have questioned why those not deterred by such conditions would be turned away by an 18-foot high fence, the Times said.

"I think it's a Bush-era boondoggle that will have almost no consequence in terms of stemming the flow of immigration," said Char Miller, director of the environmental analysis program at Pomona College. "It was a political decision that took in no account of the environment itself, and in the process damages what was once a pretty remarkable landscape."

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Jerome C. Conlin says the fence will have the desired effect.

"Having this fence here is definitely going to slow them down," Conlin said.

"It increases our probability of catching them."